Page 23 of Demons

Without hesitation, he began to prattle off about his office and some new slide they had put into the waiting area for kids and how he might as well become a pediatric dentist because he had so many children now. I listened as Esther laughed and said it was the hot dentist that was bringing in all the mommas. Haines chuckled, and I wanted to roll my eyes. Not that it wasn’t true because, well, he was nice to look at, but because he was vain enough to agree with her.

He began telling some story of a mom who had dressed up in a miniskirt and heels last week to bring her kid in for a checkup. I zoned out and let my gaze scan the rest of the place. I recognized two of my mother’s friends, and they were looking this way, smiling as if they had the best gossip in town. Fantastic. Not only did I have to eat with this man, but the whole town would know about it and think there was a future here.

If my momma didn’t show up on my doorstep later this afternoon, demanding details, I would be shocked. I needed to go to the gym anyway; perhaps I should go on a long run too. That should keep me away from the house long enough. Her calls I could avoid.

“Capri,” Esther said with a hint of frustration.

Had she been trying to get my attention? Oops.

“Yeah?” I asked, looking back at her.

“What day do you leave again, and when do you get back?” she asked in that tone that said she was repeating herself and annoyed.

“Wednesday and back Sunday,” I told her.

“What time on Sunday?” she pressed.

What had I missed? Was there something happening she was trying to get me to go to with the three of them? I should have paid more attention.

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

She gave me a pointed look that reminded me of my mother. “What time is your flight?”

“Whenever they want it to be. They have their own plane. I’m not flying commercial,” I told her.

Jaiden let out a low whistle. “Damn, you are getting there on the Shephards’ jet? I want to be you when I grow up.”

I rolled my eyes but did smile as I picked up the water the server had brought and took a sip. I was kind of excited about that too. I’d never flown on anything but commercial, and that came to a total of two different events.

“Speak of the devil … that’s King Salazar, isn’t it?” Jaiden said in a low voice, not wanting anyone other than us to hear him.

I glanced back over my shoulder to see King speaking to some man I didn’t know. He turned his head then, and his gaze locked on me. A small lift at the corner of his lips was followed by a nod. He started to look away when his eyes shifted to Haines. His body tensed. It was slight, and I was sure no one else noticed it. He turned back to the man in front of him and said something.

I looked back at Jaiden. “Yes, that’s King.”

“Do you work with him too?” Jaiden asked.

“The Shephard Ranch horses are owned by the Salazars, Shephards, Kingstons, and Jones. It’s like most things they own; it’s in their corporation or something.”

I wasn’t exactly sure how all this worked. I just knew that those four families were in business together.

“The Mafia,” Esther said under her breath.

I cut my eyes to her and scowled. “Don’t start with that.”

She pursed her lips and flipped her hair back over her shoulder. “You’ve been warned. Everyone knows it. What else would they be doing, owning everything? They even own this restaurant.”

“Everyone doesn’t know it,” Jaiden said, correcting her. “It’s gossip. It’s not fact.”

“They do own most of the buildings in this town,” she argued, not happy her fiancé wasn’t siding with her on this.

“They do?” Haines asked.

I glanced at him. He’d lived here his entire life. How did he not know this?

“Dude, who do you think owns the building your dental practice is in?” Jaiden asked him.

He looked confused. “It’s owned by SKSJ Enterprises. An older lady—sweet grandmother sort with a strange name—she’s the real estate agent who showed me the building, and I had my lease and payments all set up by her.”

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